Buildings, Highways & Racial Tension & Division

A few days ago I read an article by Eric Johnson of Reuters regarding a petition to change the name of a high school in Jacksonville Florida.

The school's name is the Nathan Bedford Forrest High School, at least for a few more months. That's been its name for 54 years, of which 42 of those years the school existed under desegregation.

Nathan Bedford Forrest was a bad dude, or was he? He was Lieutenant General in the Confederate Army and the first grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

Right there, one would conclude he was a pretty awful individual, but just like Pope Francis recently stated – that he knows many Marxists that are great guys – maybe Forrest was also a great guy? Obviously, I'm being facetious – demonstrating absurdity by being absurd.

Johnson wrote that Omotayo Richmond, who moved from New York to Jacksonville, started the petition and due to her efforts, a new name will be proposed next month.

She claims that the name change will go toward healing "so much racial division" in Florida. I'm sure there is no racial division and New York.

Like Omotayo, I am also certain that the "racial division" is caused by the school's name. I guess ignorance really is bliss.

That got me to thinking; what other names of places and things might be causing "racial tension or division" throughout these United States.

Interstate 65 is a highway that runs through Tennessee. It is named in honor of one of the state's favorite sons, a racist segregationist by the name of Albert Arnold Gore, Sr. Should that highway be renamed? Do black citizens feel road rage as they drive along that stretch of interstate?

The Ross Barnett Reservoir in Mississippi is getting a name change, due to the late governor's racist affiliations, but the B. Everett Jordan Lake, a reservoir in North Carolina is not. Sen. Jordan was also a racist and segregationist.

What about the Hale Boggs federal building in New Orleans? A federal building named for a segregationist? How could that be?

There are literally hundreds more and one common denominator – one thing they all have in common. These racists, segregationist and Klansman were all Democrats.

Oh, I did forget one very prominent individual. One with more buildings, roads, bridges etc. then every other racist, segregationist Klansman.

That, of course, is Robert C Byrd. The late senior senator from West Virginia and former "Imperial Kleagle" of the KKK. There's probably a building or road with his name on it in every town and city in that state.

So why are there no calls to change the names of the 60+ places named for Robert "Sheets" Byrd. Would that not heal racial tensions?

Maybe that should be Omotayo's next project.

But alas, poor Nathan Bedford Forrest was just of the wrong era. If he only had the chance to become a great, big government liberal, his name would not be taken down. It might be emblazoned across the whole of Florida.

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About the AuthorThe Common Constitutionalist

Brent, aka The Common Constitutionalist, is a Constitutional Conservative, and advocates for first principles, founders original intent and enemy of progressives. As well as publisher of the Common Constitutional blog, he also is a contributing writer for Political Outcast, Godfather Politics, Minute Men News (Liberty Alliance) and Free Republic